Jude Goodwin

Daily Writing Practice

Write every day. A hundred words or a thousand. It doesn't matter. Pick a time when you won't be interrupted and make a date with your inner muse. It might take a few days but they'll eventually show up and you'll be on your way to a beautiful relationship. There's so much on the internet to help you with your daily writing. Prompts. Journal ideas. Challenges and contests. In April, which is National Poetry Writing Month, a bunch of us poets gather on The Waters Poetry Workshop and write a poem a day. It's a no judgment non-critique month of writing for the sheer joy of it. Join us won't you? Everyone is welcome.

Today I was rummaging through the garage and found a box labelled 'scrap writing'. Inside was a stack of old journals - spiral bound, stapled, decorated and plain. And yeah - a whole bunch of scrap writing. I'm actually going to toss all of these - but not without acknowledging the huge part they play in my writing.

April is National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) and poets across the globe are hunkering down to write a poem a day. Every year I emerge from NaPoWriMo with 30 new poems. What a great way to start the year!

The door clicks shut behind me as I set out across the grass. It is wet, and a bit chilly, but the trees along the avenue are bursting with the flaming colours of autumn and the backdrop of dark grey clouds broken by blades of October sunshine creates a stunning fresco for my daily walk. I am snug in my raincoat and I pick up the pace. Published in the Squamish Reporter, February 2017